-- Including these Allied Lines --

Arnold, Bailey, Barker, Bishop, Bliven, Cassel, Cattrysse, Clarke
Cooke, Coons, Denton, Derr, Dugan, Freeman, Gerstner,
Holmes, Hubbard, Hungerford, Hunt, Latham, LeFever,
Lewis, Loznak, Macoone, Maxson, Mosher,
O'Dell, Randall, Ross, Sadler, Sayles,
Seaman, Shuster, Skinner,
Smith, Updyke, Vowles,
Westcott, Willey,
Williams

by
Wade C. Wightman

Gateway Press
Baltimore, MD
1990
 

     The earliest ancestors of the Wightmans spelled their name "Wihtman". Somewhat later, we find the ancestors of Wightman of Leicester, England as "Wyghtman", and in this form it is pretty general during the 14th century. In the parish registers, the entries are variously spelled "Wightman", "Whiteman", "Weightman", and "Whitman", according to the pronunciation of the particular locality, or parish priest; and it is by no means uncommon to find, at quite short intervals, the same person referred to by all four spellings.
 

    The Wightman family name was prominent on the Scottish border in very early times. There is a Scottish Crest and Coat of Arms belonging to the original Wightmans, a description of which is on file in the Lion King-of-Arms in Edinburgh, Scotland. Another tradition is that the first of the name came from the Isle of Wight, thus the name: man of Wight, or Wightman. Yet, another source, I'Anson in "Records of the Wightman Family", says that his research indicates that the family descended from the 12th century Earl of Leicester, Robert de Beaumont, who was surnamed "Blanchmains" or "Wyghtmains" owing, it is said, to his having most beautifully shaped white hands. Many sections of this Earl's lands were later in the possession of Wightmans, which might indicate a close relationship.
 

    Robert, third Earl of Leicester, as before stated, was surnamed "Blanchmains" or "Wytmains". He rebelled in 1173 against the King, and the town of Leicester was laid waste. He was, however, received again into favor four years later, and his lands restored to him. At the Coronation of Richard I, he bore the Sword of State.
 

    He was in the Crusades, and is said to have there contracted leprosy, and by some to this is ascribed the surname "Wytmains". He married Petronil, daughter of Hugh de Grantmeisnil, and thereby acquired the Honor of Hinckley and the Stewardship of England. He died and was buried at Duras, in Greece, in 1190.
 

    At the present time, our ancestry can be traced back to the middle 1400's. One of the earliest of the family (the first in our probable direct line for whom there is an available written record) was George Wightman. In the document it states that a gentleman of that name lived in the manor of Ansley, at Elmsthrope in Leicestershire, England. He had a son named Thomas.